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Lamentations 3
66 verses≈ 6 minBSB
Images are artistic interpretations.
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Where we are
- 1The lonely cityZion weeps, and no one comforts her
- 2The Lord’s angerWalls, altar and gates thrown down
- 3New every morningThe afflicted man finds hope in the LORDChapter 3
- 4The gold grown dimSiege and famine, the king taken, Edom warned
- 5Restore us, O LORDThe people’s prayer from the ruins
The Prophet’s Afflictions
I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness instead of light.
Indeed, He keeps turning His hand
against me all day long.
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He has worn away my flesh and skin;
He has shattered my bones.
He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
He has made me dwell in darkness
like those dead for ages.
The afflicted man
He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
He has weighed me down with chains.
Even when I cry out and plead for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
He has barred my ways with cut stones;
He has made my paths crooked.
He pierced my kidneys
with His arrows.
The afflicted man
I am a laughingstock to all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
He has filled me with bitterness;
He has intoxicated me with wormwood.
He has ground my teeth with gravel
and trampled me in the dust.
My soul has been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
So I say, “My strength has perished, along with my hope from the LORD.”
The Prophet’s Hope
Remember my affliction and wandering,
the wormwood and the gall.
Surely my soul remembers
and is humbled within me.
Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed,
for His mercies never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness!
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul who seeks Him.
It is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
The afflicted man
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is still young.
Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it upon him.
Let him bury his face in the dust—
perhaps there is still hope.
Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him;
let him be filled with reproach.
For the Lord will not cast us off forever. Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion. For He does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men.
To crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the land,
to deny a man justice
before the Most High,
to subvert a man in his lawsuit—
of these the Lord does not approve.
Question
Quick question
Nothing around the man has changed by verse 21. Read 3:21–24 again before you answer.
What does the man call to mind that gives him hope?
God’s Justice
Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has ordained it?
Do not both adversity and good
come from the mouth of the Most High?
Why should any mortal man complain,
in view of his sins?
The afflicted man
Let us examine and test our ways,
and turn back to the LORD.
Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
“We have sinned and rebelled;
You have not forgiven.”
You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us;
You have killed without pity.
You have covered Yourself with a cloud
that no prayer can pass through.
You have made us scum and refuse
among the nations.
All our enemies
open their mouths against us.
Panic and pitfall have come upon us—
devastation and destruction.
Streams of tears flow from my eyes
over the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The afflicted man
Without cause my enemies
hunted me like a bird.
They dropped me alive into a pit
and cast stones upon me.
The waters flowed over my head,
and I thought I was going to die.
I called on Your name, O LORD,
out of the depths of the Pit.
You heard my plea:
“Do not ignore my cry for relief.”
You drew near when I called on You;
You said, “Do not be afraid.”
0:12
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
You defend my cause, O Lord;
You redeem my life.
You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me;
vindicate my cause!
You have seen all their malice,
all their plots against me.
O LORD, You have heard their insults,
all their plots against me—
the slander and murmuring of my assailants
against me all day long.
When they sit and when they rise,
see how they mock me in song.
You will pay them back what they deserve, O LORD,
according to the work of their hands.
Put a veil of anguish over their hearts;
may Your curse be upon them!
You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them
from under Your heavens, O LORD.
From darkness to hope
Whiteboard
Nothing outside him changes. What changes is what he remembers about God.
Pray
Before the day starts
His mercies are new every morning. Before you look at your phone tomorrow, thank Him for one.
You’ve experienced
Lamentations 3
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A verse to carry with you
Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!
Lamentations 3:22–23
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